Lindsey Sings
by Gage39
Summary: Three months after the season finale Lorne runs into someone he never expected to see again...


LINDSEY SINGS

Looking back, Lorne shouldn't have been surprised. Lindsey was smarter than they gave him credit for; street smarts lurking underneath that razor-sharp lawyer mind of his so in introspection Lorne should have known that he went down far too easily. But at the time Lorne hadn't been thinking straight; had been too upset at having to kill Lindsey even though Angel had asked him too and that was the problem, wasn't it? Why hadn't _Angel _killed him? Lindsey had been _Angel's_ enemy not Lorne's. Lorne had genuinely liked the young man, had seen the pain and torment underneath everything else. He was the one who had read Lindsey each time the man sang, which was why he hadn't allowed Lindsey to sing for him at the end. He had known that if he had to listen to that clear voice one more time then he wouldn't have been able to go through with it. Sometimes, in between his first and tenth drink, he wished he had let Lindsey sing for him but now it was too late so he spent his time drinking and, when he needed the money, reading people.

One particular night he was feeling extremely down in the dumps and happened to have some extra cash in his pocket so he stopped by a little demon bar called, appropiately enough, _The Green Guy._ He went in and was just about to order his drink when a familiar voice caught his attention. Turning, he saw Lindsey McDonald sitting on the stage singing his heart out. Lorne's red eyes nearly popped out of his head and he sank onto the barstool behind him and sat there in a daze.

A few minutes later Lindsey finished singing and came over and sat down next to Lorne. Lorne just barely heard him ordering drinks for both of them and gratefully accepted the glass that Lindsey gave him, gulping it down in one swallow.

"Nice to see you, Lorne," Lindsey doesn't sound particularly upset which surprised Lorne. Had someone that he considered a friend killed him he would not buy them a drink and try to have a normal conversation with them.

"I thought you were dead," was all Lorne could say.

Lindsey chuckled. It was not a very nice chuckle. "I thought you might try something like that so I took a few precautions, namely a Kevlar vest."

Suddenly Lorne found himself attempting to explain, "It wasn't my idea, Lindsey, I didn't want to kill you but Angel…"

Lindsey growled and said, "I know it wasn't your fault, Lorne. I figured Angel put you up to it. You don't have it in you to kill anybody, well except maybe a vampire but that would be about it."

"I really am sorry though. I shouldn't have tried to kill you no matter what Angel asked."

Lindsey gave a smile, it wasn't the I-hate-you-and-I'm-going-to-kill-you smile or even the you're-going-to-do-whatever-I-want-you-to-do-for-me smile it was the real smile. The one that said everything was going to be okay.

"I found Eve," Lindsey said abruptly. "We're staying at a hotel near here; it's got two beds if you wanna crash there."

Lorne just stared at him in shock. In all of his readings of Lindsey he hadn't anticipated this. Suddenly Lindsey's final words ran through his mind. _"Can't a man change?"_

"Well," Lindsey raised an eyebrow, indicating that he wasn't going to wait all night for an answer.

"Would Eve mind?"

Lindsey grinned. "I don't think so. She always liked you. Who knows? Maybe you'll decide to stay with us. We could always use a friend nearby."

Lorne blinked away tears and swore to himself that he would never again do anything that Angel asked him to do.

Suddenly nervous Lorne chewed on his bottom lip as Lindsey paid the bartender. All the way to the hotel he wondered what Eve's reaction would be when she found out that Lindsey had brought the guy who tried to kill him back to their hotel room. He just hoped her reaction did not include knives or fire.

He was pleasantly surprised then when she took one look at him, slapped his face as hard as she could before pulling him into a hug.

The three sat up all night talking about what they had been doing in the three months since the "epic battle against the Senior Partners." Lorne wasn't really surprised to learn that Lindsey and Eve had spent that time stockpiling weapons and saving money so they could get some more concealment runes. He was surprised however when they asked him if he would like to join them. The Senior Partners would be looking to killing him anyway so he might as well annoy them as much as possible and get a little protection as well.

"Why do you want me to come with you?" he asked. "I tried to kill you, Lindsey."

"We've already determined that that was Angel's fault, not yours," Eve informed him.

"Besides," Lindsey added, "you're one of the few people I trust to watch after Eve here."

Lorne thought about it for a minute, just a minuet though then he said, "I'm in."

Lindsey and Eve smiled at him and suddenly Lorne found himself saying, "Sing for me, Lindsey," and Lindsey did.


End file.
